Issue 65, Volume 77

Page 1

t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s pa p e r o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f h o u s to n s i n c e 1 9 3 4

THE DAILY COUGAR

®

GET SOME DAILY

thedailycougar.com

70 LO 58 Monday HI

Cougars come out ahead 81-76 in overtime thriller against UTEP

DJ Calvin Harris draws mixed reviews

January 30, 2012 Issue 65, Volume 77

ATHLETICS

Question: To fee or not to fee? Voting opens today to decide stadium’s future Joshua Siegel

THE DAILY COUGAR The fate of the most prominent athletics facilities on campus is in the hands of UH students. Today, voting will open for students to decide on adding a $45-per-semester fee that will help to fund a rebuild of

Robertson Stadium and the renovation of Hofheinz Pavilion. “We’re sensitive to any increase, but this is also an opportunity for this University,” Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said. “You talk about Tier One in terms of the University, but you also talk about Tier One in terms of the athletics. And there are certain investments that had to be made in terms of the University for us to achieve Tier

One-status and continue on that path to (becoming) Tier One. Well, the facilities issue for us is huge if UH athletics is going to gain Tier One-status.” The referendum aims to augment the nearly $60 million raised privately by the Athletics Department to make these projects possible. According to engineering reports reviewed by the Athletics Department, Robertson only has 18 more months of usefulness.

While the report also said that Hofheinz is structurally sound, it is outdated. “We’re not trying to build anything that we don’t need — this is out of need,” Rhoades said. “We understand that any cost is substantial. What we told the students is that we’re not going to ask for a penny more than what we need. In order for us to make these projects work, we need to take that $60 million and increase it to the $73- to 75-million mark

to do the two facilities.” Student fees were also used in two of the most recent athletics facility construction projects at North Texas and Florida Atlantic. Both projects cost over $70 million and yielded only one facility. At North Texas, the approved student fee was $10-per-credit hour, meaning a student with a 12-hour course load would pay $120 each semester. FEES continues on page 2

GERALD D. HINES

Mayor speaks to GLOBAL

Architecture college to host Mayor’s Institute UH’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture is hosting the Mayor’s Institute on City Design at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 1. Dana Cuff, professor of architecture and urban design at the University of California, Los Angeles and director of City Lab, will deliver the keynote lecture, “The Shape of Public Architecture,” at 6 p.m. in the theater. Cuff will lecture on issues concerning urban development, affordable housing and how zoning laws affect building design. MICD is a partnership of the American Architectural Foundation and the United State Conference of Mayors. UH is set to host MICD for the first time. — John Loner

H

ouston’s Mayor Annise Parker came to UH to speak about overcoming obstacles as a LGBT identified individual. She pulled from her experiences in college and her run for political office to show the students in attendance how she dealt with barriers facing the LGBT community. | Amanda Scott/The Daily Cougar

» Story: Read more about Parker on page 3.

UH SYSTEM

Clear Lake’s online Master’s program ranked top value GetEducated.com has ranked UH Clear Lake’s online MBA programs as one of the “Top Ten Best Buys” in the country. Along with the online degrees offered is iSmart — Integrated Science, Math and Reflective Thinking — a graduate online program provided by the UH College of Education that helps students to excel in science and math instruction as well as develop leadership skills. UH Clear Lake is one of only two universities offering an online MBA program in the Houston area that is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. — Jennifer Pearson

LECTURE

Acclaimed journalist talks politics, religion Annette Santos

THE DAILY COUGAR Faith is an influential tool in American politics, and campaigns now resemble “religious litmus tests,” said guest speaker and Pulitzer Prize winner Leonard Pitts. Pitts gave a lecture on Wednesday called “Religion in the 2012 Elections”. The lecture was

sponsored by Texas Freedom Network and held at Congregation Emanu El. “There is a word for nations that impose a religious litmus test for public office,” Pitts said. “Such nations are called theocracy, i.e. countries in which the words of putative holy men carry the force of law.” Countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan under the Taliban were named.

Pitts began his lecture with a story of a retired white minister who traveled with the second wave of freedom writers to advocate for African American voting rights, but was brutally beaten. This, he says, was a pure act of faith. “Consider the legacy,” he said. “Consider what he and other people of faith in this country once did to change the landscape of our lives and our politics.”

Kathy Miller, president of Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, said this lecture was designed to “expose extremism seen in politics today.” The Texas Freedom Network has also started a new chapter at UH. Freshman Emily Lynd, an active member of the Network, attended Pitts’ lecture. “I really like their grassroots PITTS continues on page 3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.